Transcription and transliteration

The Thai words transcribed in English follow the method recommended by the Royal Institute of Thailand or Ratchabandittayasathan (ราชบัณฑิตยสถาน). The Royal Institute publishes the Royal Thai General System of Transcription or RTGS, the official way of transcribing Thai into the Latin alphabet but also an official notification for the romanization of province names (changwat), county (khet), district (amphoe) and sub-district (kingamphoe) that we have systematically followed here.

[click here for the RTGS in PDF (Thai)]

[click here for the RTGS in PDF (English)]

The RTGS is easy and convenient but it is a limited system. This system can in no way replace a complete system of transliteration respectful of the complexity of the Thai alphabet. Only transliteration can effectively recognize the terms borrowed from classical Indian languages such as Pali and Sanskrit. This is why we also use, when this seems necessary (especially for manuscript titles), a transliteration system for the Khmer, Mul, Thai, Yuan [Northern-Thai], Lao and Tham-Lao alphabets, in use at the EFEO and published in La pureté par les mots : Saddavimala, by Bizot (François) and Lagirarde (François) in “Textes bouddhiques du Cambodge, Laos, Thaïlande [3]”, EFEO, 1996, pp. 271-275. This system has been slightly modified to fit the Unicode font standard and follow a more natural and simplified approach.

For instance:

Thai   xื = ịị

Thai   ฝ = F

Thai   ฟ = f

[click here for the transliteration system in PDF]